By Kurtis Archer | 2025-09-15

Space companies based in India, Europe and the United States are partnering to accelerate the expansion of India’s commercial Earth observation capabilities by contributing to the development of a remote sensing constellation.

The move comes as governments increasingly turn to private-sector firms from other countries to help them develop their space capabilities.

US-based Earth observation company BlackSky in February announced it would be working with Indian aerospace firm Nibe Ltd. to deliver one high-resolution Earth observation satellite, launch support operations and on-orbit maintenance.

BlackSky satellites can observe surface locations multiple times a day, using artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze data and identify potential security threats with a high degree of accuracy.

The partnership is part of a project led by European firm Thales Alenia Space, which also will produce a high-resolution optical satellite for the constellation.

Thales Alenia Space CEO Hervé Derrey hailed the start of "a promising space cooperation with India" at the February 6 signing of the first satellite supply contract with Nibe, a major player in India’s security and defense sector.

"This is part of our larger national endeavor, aligned with the Aatmanirbhar Bharat [Self-Reliant India] vision, to bolster India’s position as a leader in space technology and applications," said Nibe Ltd. chairman and managing director Ganesh Nibe.

Expanding civil space cooperation

A growing number of nations are opting to use private companies to help them develop their space capabilities, while private space companies are teaming up on projects domestically and with international partners.

In addition to their partnership with India's Nibe Ltd., BlackSky and Thales Alenia are helping Indonesia with an independent space-based monitoring system, via an agreement announced in February 2024.

Blue Origin, Sierra Space, Boeing, Redwire Space are among the private-sector companies contributing to the establishment of Orbital Reef, a planned private space station.

Meanwhile, Nanoracks, Voyager Space and Lockheed Martin are collaborating on a space station called Starlab.

Many public partnerships are in the works as well.

Agencies from the US, Europe, Japan, Canada and UAE will all be part of the Lunar Gateway project -- a space station that will orbit the moon as part of the Artemis mission to bring humans back to Earth’s closest neighbor.

Indian space exploration efforts are developing at a rapid rate, with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), which has both civilian and military capacities, emerging as a leader in the aerospace arena.

US and Indian officials remain committed to expanding civil space cooperation, with administrators at ISRO and NASA visiting locations in each other’s countries.

NASA has said it will help to train Indian astronauts, a shift for ISRO as historically Russia has conducted advanced astronaut training for Indian pilots.

Cooperation on flying payloads for commercial lunar landers is in the works for the United States and India as well, with NASA and ISRO poised to work with private aerospace companies for these lunar lander missions.

India also has long-term plans to work with Japan on lunar activities.

US-India alliance on outer space

India is one of four nations to land an unmanned spacecraft on the surface of the moon, and Indian probes have sent missions to the moon and Mars.

ISRO programs perform Earth observation and navigation, have conducted successful anti-satellite (ASAT) tests, and can launch satellites into multiple orbits simultaneously.

The organization hopes to put an astronaut into low Earth orbit by early 2027, and a man on the moon by 2040.

In June, astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla became the first Indian to join the International Space Station during Axiom Mission 4 -- and the first Indian in space since a Soviet mission 40 years earlier.

US astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to set foot on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission, has expressed his support of NASA working with ISRO.

The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite launched in late July, with NASA’s Earth Science Division director Karen St. Germain calling it "the most sophisticated radar we've ever built."

The satellite will use advanced dual-frequency radar to map changes to Earth’s surface, using "technology capable of studying changes in land and ice –- changes as small as a centimeter, in any weather and in both darkness and light."

"This Earth science mission is one of a kind, and really shows the world what our two nations can do," NASA deputy associate administrator Casey Swails said.

"But more so than that, it really is a pathfinder for the relationship building that we see across our two nations."